15 Jan 12th–Jan 18th, 2023 phoenixnewtimes.com phoenix new Times | cONTeNTs | feeDBacK | OPiNiON | NeWs | feaTuRe | NighT+Day | culTuRe | film | cafe | music | seize the opportunity. “I would jump on this dip, and I would fuck it, no pun intended,” he said in the video. While some of his sexual encounters are consensual, such as the one in the sex tape, other instances were not, according to three different women who have accused Portnoy of sexual assault. In a November 2021 story by Insider, one woman said that Portnoy began filming without her consent as she performed oral sex on him after he flew her to his $2.2 million Nantucket residence. At the time, Portnoy was a 43-year-old multimillionaire and the woman was a 20-year-old college student. The woman texted details of the encounter to a friend, and later shared them with Insider. “It was so rough I felt like I was being raped he video taped me and spit in my mouth and choked me so hard I couldn’t breathe,” one text reads, according to Insider. “And it hurt and I was literally screaming in pain.” The texts have not been independently verified by Phoenix New Times. Insider interviewed more than two dozen people for its story, including eight current or former employees. Another woman in the story recalled being choked and filmed without permission during sexual encounters with the Barstool founder. The three women in the story who said they had sex with Portnoy described the experiences as “frightening and humiliating.” All three went by pseud- onyms for the story. “I know how he is when someone goes after him,” one of the women said. She declined to divulge specific details of her experience in fear of the repercussions. “I thought he would say something in public, or share videos of me.” Following the November 2021 story, more women came forward with similar stories. Insider published a follow-up article in February 2022. “Since then, three more young women have told Insider that Portnoy filmed them during sex without asking for permission. They ranged in age from 18 to mid-20s at the time,” Insider reported. One of the women interviewed said that Portnoy broke one of her ribs. Portnoy sued Insider for defamation after its follow-up story was published, according to The Washington Post. A judge dismissed the defamation suit in November. Barstool’s troubled reputation, like Portnoy’s, has preceded it all along. In 2017, the brand lost a partnership with ESPN just 10 days after it was inked. That happened when journalist Samantha Ponder, the network’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” host, tweeted screenshots of Barstool Sports blog posts from years earlier that contained derogatory comments about her, according to The New York Times. “The woman who was hired to stand on the sidelines, because she’s attractive, and report a stone’s throw away from girls who were hired to dance in their underwear, because they’re attractive, is against blogs saying women are attractive … Seriously you sound like a KO Barstool freak, not a chick that has a job where the #1 require- ment is you make men hard,” Barstool blogger John Feitelberg wrote about Ponder in a 2014 post. KO Barstool is a Twitter account that wants to “knock out Barstool,” according to its bio. It appears to have been inactive since 2012. The comments about Ponder echo the misogynistic culture that constantly lands Barstool Sports in hot water. Barstool and its CEO Erika Nardini did not respond to multiple requests for comment from New Times. Copper State Connections Prior to Barstool’s venture into Old Town Scottsdale, the company’s drama hit close to home. In August 2021, the Pima County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to revoke nearly $40,000 in funding from the Arizona Bowl when Barstool became its title sponsor, according to 12 News. The county has financially supported the football game, which attracts about 30,000 fans to down- town Tucson in late December, since the game was established in 2015. “I feel that the current sponsor does not represent who we are as a region or as a community,” Supervisor Sharon Bronson said in the meeting. “I don’t see how we, in good conscience, can give financial support to an organization with a docu- mented history of offensive and inappro- priate statements.” Central Michigan University was slated to face Boise State University in the December 31, 2021, game. In an early December meeting, CMU’s Academic Senate aired concerns about Barstool and Portnoy. “I’m just really worried that this align- ment might send a mixed message to prospective students,” Deborah Gray, a marketing professor and Academic Senate member, said during the meeting, according to Central Michigan Life. “Particularly, given our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, >> p 16 Barstool from p 13 Barstool founder Dave Portnoy. Mark Brown / Getty Images
